Jalopnik: Ae86

Project Car Hell, Screamin' Corolla Edition: AE86 or FX16?

Murilee Martin — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:20:00 EDT

There was some grumbling over the choices in our last Choose Your Eternity challenge (which was won by the '77 Levis Edition AMC Hornet AMX by a healthy margin), ostensibly because they were too easy… but we know the real reason: being reminded of the Malaise Era brings up the uncomfortable parallels between the hard economic times then and those now. Of course, there are differences; sure, the current war is more expensive- in dollar terms- than was Vietnam, but inflation isn't the raging beast it was back then (though the bill for our 15-year debt binge looks to be just as painful as 20% inflation was). What we need is a flashback to Morning In America! The 80s, when the Evil Empire was crumbling and Toyota still built cars that didn't hit you like a triple Valium with cough syrup chaser; yes, it's Corolla Time!

As we all know, the problem with Japanese PCH cars is that parts are too easy to find, the build quality is too high, and Japanese engineers- particularly those working for Nissan, Honda, and Toyota- tend to design them to be easy to work on. Where's the fun there? Send those guys to Europe for a crash course in complexity, then to Detroit for some lessons in bean-counter-driven corner-cutting! But it's still possible to get yourself an inexpensive Japanese project that scores pretty high on the Cool-O-Meter yet will drive you absolutely mad- you just need to find something fashionably fast-and-furious that's had years of dodgy mods and rod-bending abuse… like, say, this 1984 Toyota Corolla SR5 (go here if the ad disappears), which could be yours for an offer probably well below the $1,200 asking. I know what you're saying: why get the 8-valve SR5 when you could have a GT-S with the righteous 4AGE? Hey, this one "needs a piston ring," which is Craigslist-speak for "a terrible noise happens every time I try to start it," so you'll have the opportunity to build your own engine with all the valves and boost ~~a suitcase full of~~ money can buy! And hey, it already comes with the all-important "carbon fiber eyelids" (though you're on your own for the equally important carbon fiber shift knob).

Watch the video above (shot from the Schumacher Taxi Service Corolla) and then try to muster up the usual "wrong-wheel-drive" quips! What you need is a Hell Project that, if when finished, will be a squirming, torque-steering, axle-snapping beast that will require luck as well as skill to keep under any semblance of control! Yes, we mean the AE82 CorollaGT-S, which came with plenty of howling 4A power to go with its weird sketched-by-an-8-year-old 80s-hatchback profile. They're not as easy to find as they once were, but we've spotted this '87 Corolla FX16 GT-S (go here if the ad disappears) with the same asking price as the AE86: $1,200. It has a 20-valve silvertop engine and some quasi-trick parts, but the seller states that the "motor has a blown head gasket which is not much to fix." Now, we often find that "blown head gasket" is Craigslist-ese for "smoke and/or chunks of metal pouring out the tailpipe and/or holes in the oilpan," but maybe that diagnosis is accurate- hey, stranger things have happened! Besides, the seller has a turbocharger "which we can probably work a deal on," so you can see what the logical next step would be.

1985 Toyota Corolla AE86

Murilee Martin — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:00:00 EDT

We saw an AE86 Toyota with Sprinter badging earlier in this series, and now I've found one with a single Trueno emblem just a few blocks away. This '85 seems to have had the US-spec front bumper replaced with a JDM assembly, but I'm pretty sure this car was originally sold in the US. It's always good to see an AE86 still driving, since most of these things have been thoroughly hooned by two generations of leadfooted import fanatics and they're getting mighty tough to find.

It's been lowered a bit and sports the obligatory large exhaust tip, but overall it looks quite intact. Perhaps it spent the first 20 or so years of its life as a sedate daily driver.

I saw quite a few of these emblems at the Motoring J Style show a month ago. Hey, do you think we'll start seeing Echos with Platz emblems? Avalons with Pronard badging?

Yes, that's a NorCal Drift Academy T-shirt being used as a seat cover; let's hope the owner of this car keeps the body in one piece and the engine block unventilated as he slides around the track.

DOTS 1-200 • DOTS 201-250

Subaru To Build Next Toyota Celica?

Matt Hardigree — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 12:15:00 EST

Those missing the RWD Celica's of yore can take hold of some gossip based on a rumor about the dead coupe getting revived with some mechanicals from the Subie parts bin. Going chronologically, the exciting gossip last August was that Toyota was going to use its new stake in Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) to help it build a small RWD Coupe, which everyone took to mean a new Toyota Corolla AE86. Now AutoWeek.nl has it that the rumored AE86 might be a suspected Celica.

The speculation points to the next generation Celica being produced by Subaru and coming in two versions: Celica GT and GT-4. Both will get the 2.0-liter boxer out of the WRX, with the GT-4 getting the 300 horsepower version of out of the STI and four-wheel drive (with in-wheel electric motors, if you can believe that). If rumor is to be believed, the new Celica will come in coupe and three-door hatchback form. Where it's sold, what it costs and when it debuts is all a matter of intuition and random guessing at this point. [AutoWeek.nl via World Car Fans]
(Photo of the FT-HS Concept)

PCH, 80s Japanese Muscle Edition: AE86 or Starion?

Murilee Martin — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 17:30:00 EST

I know it's been a while since our last Choose Your Eternity matchup (in which, incidentally, the Hayubasa-powered Honda 600 just barely edged out the Duramax-powered '47 Ford, for which I apologize; the cruel overlords at ~~the salt mine~~ my tech-writing job shipped me out to New York for a 4-day weekend of PowerPoint presentations. Aaah, PowerPoint, the magical tool that makes time slow to a crawl! To unwind, we were treated to free booze each night at corporate-sponsored parties, including one with an "Eighties Prom" theme. And, as I fought my way to the bar to get another French 75 (F. Scott Fitzgerald's drink of choice while in Paris), contemplating the spectacle of a bunch of 24-year-old software geeks shakin' it to the usual Billy Idol tunes (how come 80s parties never have good 80s dance music, like George Clinton or Grandmaster Flash? And, yes, I know the answer: MTV), I tried to recall how the rear-wheel-drive Japanese factory hot rods of the era appeared to those of us who cared about cars at the time. And, of course, that was the inspiration for today's pair of PCH choices...

As we all know, it's pretty tough to find a Toyota that's really suitable for this series. They're just too reliable and the parts are too easy to find, so the Hell component is weaker than we like. Still, the mid-80s Toyota Corolla GT-S does qualify, and not just because you know that every single one has had the absolute crap beat out of it by generations of lead-footed hoons. The real reason the flames grow higher as soon as you pick up an AE86, however, is that every single component of every single car has been thoroughly molested by clueless 19-year-olds with a $19.95 set of sockets and dreams of being the Drift King of the parking lots of (insert name of suburban shopping mall here). The surprises will never stop coming, no matter how long you work on it! Such is the likely case with this '86 Corolla GT-S coupe (go here if the ad disappears), which can be had for only two grand in American dollars. The car runs, but it "has low compression in the third and fourth cylinders" (probable translation: lean condition during application of HELLA NOSSSSSS has added speed holes to pistons and/or repeated overheating has blown the head gasket). There's the telltale litany of buzzwords (JDM, HKS, carbon fiber) that indicate both hoonage and tons of drifto-centric mods applied by a series of 19-year-old owners dating back to the early 90s. But... if you could clean up the mess and add engine sap via properly-done modifications, you'd be doing the 80s right- "Loopzilla" instead of "White Wedding."

The AE86 is a pretty cool car, of course, but these days it's akin to what the '69 Camaro was to my generation: just about the only old car that every high-school kid can identify. What if you want a hot Eighties Japanese machine without having to listen to 16-year-olds tell you all about it? And you want a car that's already set up for turbocharging, because you have a (probably unfounded) belief that you'll thereby be able to stuff more boost into it? In that case, this 1988 Mitsubishi Starion (go here if the ad disappears) is the correct infernal choice for you! Actually, this car might be a Dodge Conquest, as the seller doesn't quite make the make 100% clear in the listing. What is clear, however, is that this Mitsu has had the hood and headlight panel painted "SUNBURST ORANGE, 07 CORVETTE/HHR OTHER KNOWN AS MANDARIN ORANGE METALIC IT WILL LOOK REALLY NICE ONCE FINISHED." The turquoise air dam is a nice touch, too. The car doesn't quite, you know, run at the moment, but when you "spray starter fluid into the intake it runs and idles really nice it might have a bad pump and relay or something." Yeah, a turbocharged Astron motor, with its funky injector setup- you have to figure the problem is just a relay. No sweat! Nervous Nellies might shy away from statements such as "it would be a waste to just let it go to crap with the rebuilt motor by previous guy," but everyone knows that engine rebuilds done by the "previous guy" are always up to manufacturers' specs. Don't worry about those minor details, though; you need to picture yourself behind the wheel of this Starion with a nice paint job and 450 turbocharged Astron ponies under the hood.

Toyota AE86

Murilee Martin — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 09:15:00 EDT

Since the AE86 family of Toyotas tends to contain some of the most hacked-up, hot-rodded, and generally butchered cars you see in California, it's beyond my abilities to guess the exact year of this particular example. I can't check the state's Smog Test History site to get the year of the chassis because it's sporting Washington plates, and I can't see the VIN under its aftermarket dash mat. This one probably contains bits of a dozen cars from the 1984-87 period; we can only hope it has the right engine... and that it's not spitting busted valves out the tailpipe during some drifting madness tomorrow night.

Hey, a JDM Sprinter emblem above the taillight...

...and US-market GT-S emblems on the driver's-side door.

I tend to think of this era as the final hurrah for really interesting Toyotas; sometime in the mid-80s, the company apparently decided to sell its soul in exchange for impossible build quality and reliability. Was it worth it?

But if they ever bring back the AE86, I hope they also bring back a retro-ized version of the '83-86 Tercel wagon.

First 100 DOTS Cars

Over the Back Fence: Is This The New Toyota AE86?

Mike Spinelli — Thu, 02 Aug 2007 09:02:56 EDT

The sphere of blogo has been abuzz about a new rear-drive Toyota model that would revive the AE86 ethos. That is, the Corolla coupe from the 1980s that's still a many splendored model to import and drift kids and aficionados of Japanese classics. Now, World Car Fans spotted a spec rendering in Japanese magazine Best Car, where the story of a new Scion, possibly riding on a Fuji Heavy Industries (Subaru) platform and costing in range of $12,500. Will Toyota's new interesting car division follow through? Only Doc's Delorean knows for sure. [World Car Fans]

Over the Back Fence: Toyota to Bring Back AE86 Corolla GT?

Mike Spinelli — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 09:53:39 EDT

If this story were confirmed, we'd have made the headline "TOYOTA COMES TO SENSES." But seeing as it's still in Rumor Defcon 2, we'll just say that consensus may be building within Toyota to create a small rear-drive platform in the style of its erstwhile AE86 Corolla GT. That car remains a favorite of drift king and street racer alike for its chassis rigidity, bulletproof 4A-GEC engine and optional limited-slip differential. What a modern version would look like is anyone's guess, but the sentiment would be more than welcome on Toyota's lot. And it would make Bumbeck lose his mind with delight. – Mike Spinelli

Japan Report: No Quelling Toyota AE86 Revival Rumors [Winding Road]

SUPER GLOBAL ALL-STAR DRIFTING BATTLE!

Mike Bumbeck — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 13:04:47 EST

At the drivers' meeting before the D1GP All-Star event, Keiichi "Drift King" Tsuchiya calmly asked those gathered how many were driving hachi-rokus. Seven raised their hands. Drivers of the venerable high-winding AE86 Toyota Corollas were to receive special instructions. In a field increasingly filled with high-horsepower monsters of V8 and other variety, the hachi-rokus would have to set a higher standard. Tsuchiya said that if three of these hachi-rokus were to achieve drifting by the middle of the first high-bank, that subsequent high-bank drifting would become the requirement for all the hachi-rokus. Tsuchiya also informed all drivers to graze, yet not topple the apex cone out of the high bank in order to receive maximum points score. This was important foreshadowing.

As announcer, translator, and judge Toshi Hayama later informed us all, the hachi-roku is the sworn nemesis of eventual D1GP All-Star event winner Ken "Nomuken" Nomura and his 533HP R34 Skyline. Hachi-roku is Japanese for eighty-six, which in itself is the latter part of the Toyota Corolla's AE86 chassis designation.

At the heart of the hachi-roku is the twin-cam Toyota 4AG. Note individual throttle bodies for maximum effective air-flow and sonic amusement. The symphony of rotaries, inline-sixes, fours-bangers, and V-8's is what makes the drifting soundtrack worth listening to.

The focus of the All-Star event was for Japanese and US drivers to host drivers from other parts of the globe. Flag waving was thereby encouraged.

Representing Malaysia was Tengku Djan, who had encountered the wall on Saturday. D1GP founder Daijiro Inada empowers repairs by way of stylish suit. Find more Tengku in the gallery.

Team Orange drivers Kumakubo and Tanaka opened the D1GP All-Star Match at Irwindale Speedway by hurtling around the course Joie Chitwood Thrill Show style - in opposite directions!

Katsuhiro Ueo absolutely refuses to take his foot out of the throttle of his hachi-roku for any reason.

Closeup of Ueo's personal tire smoke ventilation removal system.

Djan's hachi got a straightaway spanking at the hands of Yoichi Imamura's Nissan 350z.

2005 All-Star winner Vaughn Gitten Jr. got his supercharged Mustang into the running but went out first round against Djan.

Ireland's Darren McNamara absolutely slayed in his turbocharged AE86. Watch for this man in the near drifting future.

Samuel Hubinette took the hemi-mo-powered Dodge Charger into the All-Star in a big way.

Rhys Millen disabled his turbocharged Pontiac Solstice during practice on Friday. The team rolled down to the shop and affected repairs for a return to the All-Star on Sunday.

Hey Pal, look where you're going. Actually Daigo Saito is looking back to see where his cobbled-by-a-cone opponent went. Low slung coolers and apex cones don't mix well.

The sound of the anti-lag system on Tsuyoshi Tezuka's R32 Skyline is alone worth the price of a ticket. The bumper is here showing effects of a wall grazing. The gallery holds more drifting goodness. – Mike Bumbeck

Team Orange Cleans Up at D1GP Final Round

Mike Bumbeck — Tue, 19 Dec 2006 11:54:16 EST

We would like to think that if Meatwad were to drive a race car of any kind it would be a drift machine. Perhaps an AE86, more likely a Starion. The truth is we desperately need more characters in motorsport - cartoon or not. The one place on four wheels where there is absolutely no shortage of characters is drifting. Driving rain stopped neither fans nor drifters at the D1GP World Finals at Irwindale Speedway this past Saturday. Team Orange driver Tanaka put everybody else back on the trailer to take the win for the event itself, while teammate Kumakubo collected the D1GP World Series Drifting points series Champion title. Both drivers piloted specially prepared rear-drive Subaru Imprezas to great angle and maximum tire-evaporating effect.

Unlike other more circular forms of motorsport the rain did not stop this vehicular battle from proceeding. Many ponchos were sold and umbrella girls were cold at the asphalt bowl of echoing individual throttle bodies. Wet surfaces did bring some wall contact and a few drivers getting knocked out of the program before they could get in. Halfway through eliminations the skies opened once more but no matter to Tanaka. One by one the worthy competitors fell at his hands. Even Carl would have dug it. – Mike Bumbeck

Projekt Update: JTuned's AE86

Mike Spinelli — Wed, 03 Aug 2005 16:58:52 EDT

Projekt AE86 is coming along nicely over at JTuned (in some societies, spelling things "wrong" is a sign of great wealth and power). Beginning with the thanks-to-the-vast-number-of-drift-wannabes-suddenly-difficult-to-find early Toyota Corolla chassis (AE86 to the cognoscenti), the boys over there have maxed out their credit cards buying virtually everything HKS ever made for the 20-year-old car. A set of rare Dori Dori wheels and Porsche white paint clean up the outside. Check back as the JTuned staff claim to have big plans for the little coupe.

Projekt EightSix #06 [JTuned]

Related:
Scion tC Transformation: A Tuner-Eye View; Tokyo's Tuners: Live from The Tokyo Auto Salon; It's CRX-Mas in July: Beloved Honda Model to Return in '07 [internal]